Tab for Teaching English Put at $3 Billion

WSJ.COM ^

[brytlea]

Unfortunately, sink or swim has been replaced with swim or be given taxpayer provided floaties....
susie

[MrB]

Have they calculated what it will take to teach English to our own citizens, namely “inner-city youth”?

They don’t speak English, and it is obviously holding them back from becoming productive citizens.

[BurbankKarl]

I find myself in Echo Park every once in a while. I would say about 1 in 10 understands 3rd grade english. The rest just have a dumb, blank look on their face as you try to speak to them. Sometimes I try my Spanish, which isnt the greatest...and they still look at you like...what are you doing here, Gringo?

The whole area has degenerated into a Tijuana-esque looking slum, with people selling and using meth in the parking lots, and an anything goes atmosphere after dark.

[livius]

Earlier immigrants actually attended classes, either at night school or in community centers, where they learned English. They did not just “pick it up,” except for those who weren’t really interested in participating in this country and just learned enough words to get by but not really to be citizens.

These classes were significantly cut back by the “multi cultural” crowd in the 1960s, and no encouragement at all has been given to the learning of English for decades.

They should also teach civics in these classes, as used to be done for earlier generations of immigrants.

[livius]

Actually, I wish they would have a project for teaching standard English to these kids. “Ebonics” really does hold them back, and I think it condemns them to the underclass. Not that Jesse and the gang would care.

[Old Professer]

They just cut it in half - 5.8 million legal on one hand and 6.4 million illegal on the other hand; they have a deeper agenda than you think.

[Travis McGee]

Illegal immigrants represent a wet dream for those in the public sector who ineffectively and unproductively make their living supplying entitlements for the social welfare state. Illegals are high maintenance and uneducated, in other words more foundation for the liberal Democrat base which supports the elite scum like Kennedy, Schumer, Durbin, et al. If they enhance their power, while bankrupting the country they could care less, fiscal bankruptcy is simply another name for a socialistic centralized government state in their mind. Government of the government, by the government and for the government is their motto.

Well said and worth repeating!

[AmericanInTokyo]

i myself have heard enough stories from non-hispanic, legal immigrants in the United States, in a variety of u.s. states, who have gone through taxpayer funded ESL programs, and i kept hearing the same eerily similiar stories (with some exceptions, of course I should fairly point out) regarding the hispanic and particularly illegal aliens in these taxpayer funded ESL classes.

(the stories) all point to a general and cultural lack of will to WANT to master english and lack of will to WANT to assimilate in our country, by those people--as opposed to other students. i have heard too many of these various stories from different regions for it not to be an established phenomonenon.

by and large, most of the reason they went to the classes was to sluff off, pick up women, and sponge off other students such as always asking for pencils/pens, borrowing dictionaries and not returning them, and not buying textbooks themselves, constantly asking to read off the textbooks from asian and european students who had gone out and bought them.

someone challenge me that such uniform stories amounts to racism on my or others parts who witnessed this phenomenon

[AmericanInTokyo]

exactly. and if companies, out of their own pocket, want to have two phone options on the master menu when people call, one called English and a second one called Special English (such as slowing the rate down of the recording or the staff responding by one third speed so beginners could catch the English while they flip their dictionary--i.e. challenge THEM to work and excel) that would be fine with me.

but no more of this "para Espanol imprime el number dos", keeping them dependent on Spanish crapola. Hear that Corporate America!!??

that keeps them fully dependent on Spanish. they can learn with "Special English" (slow English) first, and then advance to option 1 after a year or two. it can be done. it would be fair to all other, non-Spanish speaking people too. this current system is a big insult to a lot of other immigrants, who are legal and from non-hispanic countries. they get no special "breaks". sick of it

[AmericanInTokyo]

That is what it really comes down to, at the end of the day, isn’t it??? Well said, TM

[AmericanInTokyo]

where do we get those printed up in mass??!! (the GTHOOMC bumper stickers)

[Travis McGee]

I believe you can get printable bumper sticker stock that you can use at home, but I haven’t tried it.

[VOA]

Tab for Teaching English Put at $3 Billion

IF, this teaching of English ALSO inculcates the general culture
of "The Anglosphere", i.e., "rule of law", "fair play", constitutional
government...

Then adding another 12-20 million folks to "The Anglosphere"
that would have otherwise been part of the cracked, failed, inefficient
culture that oozed out of the unfailingly inept and corrupt
"Spanish Empire"...
this could actually be good news.

Unfortunately, most Democrats and too many Republicans have put
the cart before the horse...giving out language lessons and
citizenship BEFORE people are even prepared/able to assume the
rights and responsibility of full-fledged US citizens.